


Just outta my reach

by lilllac



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, quite a few rarepairs but they are not the focus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24328603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilllac/pseuds/lilllac
Summary: After getting a cold, Blake asks Weiss to cover her place as the photographer for the school's newspaper - during the same week Ruby Rose makes her debut on the long-distance track team.The collision between their paths is inevitable, fateful - and disastrous.Otherwise, it wouldn't be them.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Weiss Schnee, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Just outta my reach

**Author's Note:**

> Enlgish is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes to be found! Hope it's enjoyable.   
> Chapter title taken from the song city love, by john mayer.

"Is karma paid in parcels?" The female voice, characteristically loud and firm, came from the other side of the curtain, and the girl only needed a moment to pull the cloth aside and slip into the tiny ward of the infirmary. "Because it can only be that".

"Karma for what?" Blake asked although she shouldn't even be talking.

"How would I know?" She sat on the end of the bed, carefully holding the steaming cup towards her friend. "But it must be".

"For such an intelligent person," Blake took the cup. "You are very superstitious".

"Incorrect." Weiss closed her eyes, frowning. "I already eliminated all other possible alternatives. It is a logical deduction: the only explanation is a divine intervention".

"Of course. And I suppose my cold is also the result of an all-powerful entity?". 

"And what else would it be? I never even  _ saw  _ you get sick".

"I was got caught up under the rain yesterday," Blake shrugged, but immediately regretted it, wincing in pain after realizing how sore her muscles were. "Damn it".

"You should be resting," Weiss crossed his legs. "But it's not as if you listen to me, is it?".

"I don't have that luxury." Blake took a sip of her tea, which Weiss had gone across the campus to get. "Do you know what day it is?".

"Monday?".

"No," Blake shook her head, her feline ears drooping until they were almost folded. "Today is the first day of the week of preparations for the sports festival".

Weiss twisted her mouth into a frown:

"Do they still do that?" And if her tone had sounded a little like the girl she used to be in the first year, sour and privileged, she couldn't help it: what kind of barbarians liked to gorge themselves on greasy food, crammed into the bleachers that couldn't even fit them all, screaming at the top of their lungs under a scorching midday sun? "Why?".

" _ Because  _ not everyone in this school attends a private fencing club. So" she turned her golden eyes to her camera, resting inside the case, which she had carefully placed on the side table. "I promised Velvet that I would take care of the preparatory week, if she covered the festival".

Oh no. Weiss didn't like where it was going.

"Blake Belladonna, if you think—".

"You owe me one," Blake reminded her. ".... Please? I really don't want to let Velvet down. She's already completely busy. And someone needs to take this week's pictures".

"But  _ why _ ?" Weiss emphasized, although she already knew very well that she would end up accepting the request. "Nothing much happens! I'm just going to walk around the school, taking pictures of entitled assholes".

"It helps with sportsmanship," was Blake's only answer.

Weiss narrowed her eyes, and for a long moment (a few seconds) they were silent, blue gaze fixed on the other's amber irises, with a thin hope that Blake would give up.

"Okay," she rose from the companion's chair, taking the designer bag she had placed at the foot of the bed, and passing the single strap over her shoulder. Taking a last look at Blake, who was still curled up like a burrito in the infirmary sheets, red nose, and tired eyes, Weiss felt her face relax, unable to be angry with her friend when she was so sick. "But I'm not doing this because I owe you one" she leaned over, tugged on Blake's human ear, and then went back to adjusting her posture. "I'm doing it for  _ you _ ".

Blake smiled.

"You better go now, my mom will be here soon, and you know how she is. She will make you leave here wearing gloves and a surgical mask and give you a lecture for being around during an "infectious emergency" she laughed. "Good luck".

Feeling every nerve in her body already regretting having accepted that, Weiss sighed and left the infirmary, murmuring:

"I'll probably need it".

\----------

The first team she needed to “check out” was wrestling, which was an unpleasant experience, to say the least. But anywhere with Cardin Winchester was automatically unpleasant, so she supposed she couldn't blame the rest for that. Weiss climbed onto some stacked mattresses, took two pictures of Russel stretching, and then left, not bothering to explain that she was covering for the school newspaper.

Russell did not look bothered, which was both pathetic and hilarious.

The second was the volleyball team, and things were considerably better. A lot because Goodwitch had taken a break from proofreading for a cup of coffee near the open court, and no one risked making trouble when Glynda just was fifty feet away. Sun Wukong waved to Weiss as soon as she approached, and ran towards her, forgetting to block an especially strong serve from Sage and letting the ball hit Scarlet right in the middle of the face.

How Sun had been chosen as captain, Weiss would never understand.

"Hey!" He greeted, supporting his forearms on the step of the bleachers, where Weiss had climbed. "What're  _ ya  _ doing here?". 

"I study here too, you know" she replied, busy restarting the device.

"I know" the boy rolled his eyes. "But you? On a court? By your own free and spontaneous will?".

"I wouldn't say spontaneous... Much less will" the camera beeped, and Weiss positioned it right in front of Sun's face, clicking. Luckily, she had remembered to disable the flash. "Blake caught a cold, I just left her in the infirmary," she lifted the object. "I'm covering for her, in the school newspaper, until she gets better".

"Wow" he laughed. "Who'd've thought? So, will you be taking the pictures at the festival?".

"Not even under torture," Weiss replied quickly. "The day I set foot in this school during a barbaric event of this level, you can be sure that I lost my mind, Wukong" Sun showed him his tongue. "Velvet will take care of the festival week. I'm just covering the preparatory one".

"In that case." He leaned over to take her wrist with one hand. "You need to check this out". 

Without the patience to wait for Weiss to descend as a civilized person, Sun put her in his arms and jumped out of the stands. Two years ago, if someone did this to Weiss Schnee, it would end not only with a broken nose but also a fat money fine and a lost lawsuit. But Weiss had found in herself a strange affinity for the boy, who seemed so naturally opposed to her.

She blamed Blake for this.

"Sage! Sage!" He finally returned her to the floor when they reached the net. The taller boy greeted her more calmly, and Scarlet, on the other side, gave her a thumbs-up with his hand. "Show her our new uniforms!".

Oh. Weiss hadn't noticed because, as usual, Sun Wukong took advantage of the school's non-explicit rules to go shirtless during practice, but Scarlet and Sage were actually  _ wearing  _ new uniforms. In a beautiful shade of indigo and white, with the Vale emblem carefully sewn on the back.

"Super cool, ain't it?" Sun was smiling. "Coco left it here this morning. Obviously. I look a lot hotter in them, but Sage kinda rocks it too, huh?".

Weiss didn't bother to answer. Instead, she asked Sage to stay put so she could take some pictures, all while asking:

"Coco? Did she make your uniforms?".

"Sown by hand, apparently." Scarlet sounded impressed, and a little scared. "How long has she been working on these shirts?".

"Since last year's festival, probably," Weiss replied, taking the last photo. "She's like that".

Coco was the main editor of the school newspaper and headmaster Ozpin's number one choice for all inter-school events that needed a student's opinion. And it wasn’t just because the name “Adel” called investors to Beacon in almost the same proportion that Weiss’s name did - although that wasn’t exactly good for any of the heiresses, in its own way - but because Coco genuinely had good a hand in everything that involved planning and organization. It was no wonder that under her leadership the budgets for that year's festival seemed so much fatter than the previous one.

"Where are you going now?" Sun questioned.

"Hm ..." Weiss pulled out her cell phone, rereading the list that Blake had given her. "For today, only two more clubs are missing. Lifting and throwing weight, which is almost the same" Sun nodded. "And the track team".

"Ohhhh, let me go with you," he asked, in what he probably assumed was a cute voice, but which made Weiss want to hit him in the face with Blake's camera. "I really need to talk to Nora".

"Do what you want, but if you're going to follow me, put on a shirt first".

Sun acquiesced but agreed. Beacon was a huge school, and if the speed with which things were going was any indication, it would only increase in the years to come. It was also one of the only educational institutions in the world that could afford to have a sports festival as big as that, in which a good percentage of its students spent their entire days without even stepping into a classroom, and yet not having to worry about the school's position in the educational rankings - that's why Ozpin had students like her, Pyrrha, Ren, and Neptune, after all.

The whole place was in a frenzy. Students carrying plaques, ornaments, and punching bags, and even something that looked suspiciously like a pinata, talking loudly and carefreely. From time to time, she would see a teacher, calmly sipping a cup of coffee in a corner, or talking to a classroom representative, and even they seemed strangely energized by all that school spirit.

Weiss just wanted it to end soon.

When she reached the gym where the weightlifting club was training Weiss was not surprised to hear a song... Better said, an  _ unidentified sound  _ coming out of the speakers, so absurdly loud that she could barely hear her thoughts. But what to expect from people who thought that "dieting" meant "red meat" and that fruit-flavored energy drinks were socially acceptable?

Sun found Nora easily, mostly because she was the only girl lifting a 180kg weight and there was a small crowd around her. Weiss did not forget to take a picture of the conglomerate before moving on, too.

Pyrrha was there, which made Weiss's day considerably better. Jaune and Ren too, because those four wouldn't go anywhere without the others. Ren was using huge headphones to cancel out the noise and was recording Nora with his cell phone camera. Jaune was the first to see her:

"Weiss?".

"Save your surprised face, I got it" she lifted the camera, which was now swinging from her neck by the strap like a stupid necklace "I'm covering for Blake. What about you? I mean, besides being following your friends around?".

The boy pouted in disappointment but replied:

"Port put me to look after Nora," he laughed and only then did Weiss notice that he was, in fact, wearing one of those white T-shirts that the ward assistants wore. "I'm here in case she has a heart attack".

"Hey!" Pyrrha chuckled. "That's not something very nice to be saying".

"It's a possibility." He held up his hands, palms up as if defending himself.

Ren, who was not hearing anything, just ignored her.

Weiss was about to say something, but then she noticed someone in the crowd:

"Yang?" she called. "What are you doing here?".

"What? Is Pyrrha the only one allowed to skip her training?". Behind her, Weiss heard Pyrrha launch an exasperated  _ Yang ... " _ Relax, ice queen. The boxing club is under cleaning today, so I came to see Nora". She smiled widely, and Weiss knew she was about to say something stupid. "Blake told me that you're taking the pictures. I'll come with some nice shorts for you tomorrow" she finished the sentence with a wink.

"Now, Yang, go to-" Weiss was saying, despite the red face and the feeling of heat she was getting, when Sun interrupted her:

"Hey, Weiss! I'm gonna hang out here. My bad".

"I wasn't even walking with you," she said. "I don't need a bodyguard—";

"You don't?" Pyrrha appeared at her side. "What a shame. I was going to ask if I can come with you. Mercury's training will start shortly". 

"... But they are always welcome, as I was saying," she added, immediately smiling at the taller one, who returned the gesture. "I just need to take some pictures of this ...  _ mess  _ first"

Very grudgingly, and only after a lot of tantrum, Weiss was forced to admit that she was not tall enough to take a good picture of Nora from where she was, and if she was going to dare open her way through that crowd, she would probably leave with bones broken and a black eye. Finally, Pyrrha took the pictures for her, they said goodbye to Jaune, Ren ignored them, and Weiss finally got rid of that pandemonium.

"Before we go to the race track, I need to check the weight throwing club" Weiss commented. "Is that alright with you?".

It was alright with Pyrrga, which was a relief because Weiss really wanted to cover that specific club.

The pitch and darts field was very wide and very green, which hurt Weiss' eyesight a little, but made her find her target much easier.

Before she could reach it, however, the bane of her existence found her first:

" _ Heyyyy _ " Neptune appeared next to her, from the air. "If you wanted some pictures, you could just ask".

"Neptune, for the last time," Weiss sighed. "Why are you talking to me?".

"You hurt me so," he smiled, a smile that was once charming, but that had lost its charm. "Anyone who listens to you saying that might think that we have no history".

"Because we don't" she continued walking, and Pyrrha followed, seeming to want to be in literally anywhere else at that moment. "Not really. Do you want a story? Here goes one. You left me planted on our first and last date.  _ Fini _ ".

"I already told you I can explain—".

Thanks to all that was good in the world, Weiss didn't have to send him to mind his own business again, because Winter appeared. And being who she was, it only took one look from his sister to send Neptune away.

In a show of strange comfort and unremarkable sloppiness, Winter was wearing blue shorts and a white tank top. The pale skin looked burnt on the shoulders, where small freckles were beginning to appear, and she was drinking a Slurpee. 

_ Winter Schnee _ , who would have thought?

"Doesn't this kid ever take a break?" She complained. And then: "Weiss. Pyrrha. How are you?".

"Very well, what about you, Winter?" Pyrrha politely replied.

"I'm great. What are you doing here?".

Weiss explained her role for what felt like the tenth time that day, and Pyrrha said she was killing time until Mercury's training began. Weiss wasn't sure if Winter knew who the boy was, but she had the education not to ask. Points for Winter and her newfound human empathy.

"I need to speak to the captain," she lied, hoping Winter wouldn't suspect.

It worked.

"He's near the water cooler," she pointed out.

Winter had apparently been on the way to look for something in her locker, and Weiss concluded that the gods could not, in fact, had given her a better chance.

Like her, her older sister did not participate in any sports club. The two of them, after all, did fencing at the same private academy, and Winter would be very busy anyway, studying for the army entrance exams.

"Captain," Weiss greeted, and the boy with his back to them, drinking from a thermal bottle turned to her. And then his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "A smile for the camera?".

"Weiss!" He pretended he hadn't spilled the water on his chin. "Pyrrha!".

"Hello again!".

"Marrow" Weiss spoke again. "Which photos do you recommend that I take?".

"Um, well ..." he scratched the back of his head, canine tail wagging. "Neptune has been getting some great shots with the darts. But my record remains the best, of course. Maybe a picture of me putting on the gloves?".

"Sure," she replied. "Pyrrha, can you help me? Get his gloves from the deposit, please?".

Taking the cue more than quickly, Pyrrha left in search of the gloves. And the two stayed.

"I-".

"You are a nice guy, I know that," Weiss said. "Everyone loves you, and not without reason. And I noticed how happy Winter has been, I'm not blind. How happy you have made her. "Another sigh, this time just a tired one. "This is not a shovel talk. Much less a threat".

".... It is not?" Marrow asked. "You two are quite different, then".

"It's a request. From a younger sister who is very happy to finally see the older one so ... so  _ herself"  _ she said. "Just ... treat her well, okay? I trust you".

It made him smile.

"Winter and me ... we didn't start off on the right foot, I admit. But I really like her. And I think she likes me too. I promise that I will do what I can and what I can't do so that she is always happy. With me or not".

Pyrrha returned with the gloves on and Weiss was spared an embarrassingly emotional moment with her (possibly) future, brother-in-law.

\----------

The track team's race tracks had been built on the old site where the library was located before it was demolished and relocated to a larger annex. This meant that not only were they isolated from the rest of the school, in almost morbid silence, they were also reached only after walking almost the entire campus.

There was a shortcut, however. What Weiss thought was hilarious and ironic.

The whole place was surrounded by very tall trees, which she was sure helped on days when it was hotter. A few meters further on, an area had been fenced, where Goodwitch intended to build a third pool. There was a warehouse of medium proportions, where the team kept the cones, ropes, and other materials, as well as two large drinking fountains and two rows of seats for those who wish to attend the competitions.

"Nikos." Harriet Bree raised her eyebrows as she saw them approach. "I was wondering why the delay".

"That was my fault," Weiss explained. And then, she  _ explained _ . Again.

Harriet nodded. She pointed to a spot on the left, shaded by the nearest tree, and very close to one of the drinking fountains. Weiss and Blake's camera headed straight there. Despite her closed expression, sarcastic comments, and the manner of few friends, Harriet was just the type of veteran who took time out of her day to make sure the other students were comfortable and safe.

It was no small feat. Contrary to popular belief, track racing was a sport that hurt. Now and then teenagers ended up in the ward with broken ankles or concussions for having tripped or stepped badly. Harriet needed to take care of all that, and try to prevent other accidents from happening.

Pyrrha stayed behind long enough for Mercury, who was talking to a few other colleagues across the floor, to see her. He quickly ran over to her, without sweating or showing fatigue, and the two talked quietly. Weiss was going through the pictures she had taken that day when Pyrrha called her.

She approached, and Mercury, with a smug smile, said:

"Check these out:".

He leaned over to roll up one of his pants legs and Weiss saw that his prostheses had been painted. Very poorly painted. With spray. In school colors.

If it weren't so ridiculous, Weiss would have laughed.

"You're very brave to ruin your prostheses like that," he said.

"Not mine," he shrugged, unrolling his pants. "Port got a sponsor from a sports club. The big one" he gestured with his hands, and Weiss pretended not to notice Pyrrha's silly passionate look at her boyfriend. "I'll only be able to use them during the festival, but ok. Worth every second".

Weiss nodded. Mercury generally did not compete with his teammates. First, obviously, he was too good for it. Before he lost his legs in ... a  _ doubtful  _ accident, he was already stupidly fast. Then, after a few years of physiotherapy and medical treatment, he was moved to para-sports competitions, where he seemed to run with even more momentum. Ozpin let him use the school tracks to train, as well as a friendly competition with teammates, but they no longer ran in the same categories.

The sports festival was a welcome exception to Mercury. What, she had noticed, seemed to be a recurring theme.

"Yeah, so I," he was saying when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he waved: "hey! Ruby! Come here!".

A girl who looked younger than them, wearing black shorts and a red sweatshirt, approached, carrying one of those pommel trays, which popcorn vendors in circuses carried, except this one had energy drinks of dubious colors.

"Have you met Pyrrha and Weiss?".

"Who doesn't know Pyrrha?" She laughed. And then, to the other one: "Yang told me about you. Ruby Rose. I'm new here" she held out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you".

"Weiss Schnee" great. Just what Weiss needed. A brat to fill up her patience.

"Ruby is great," Mercury said. "She has helped us a lot. But not as good as I am".

Ruby showed him her tongue. Weiss rolled her eyes.  _ Helping _ ? SHe thought, looking at the tray. And with an internal laugh:  _ of course, she's the errand boy around here. _

Eventually, Weiss returned to the stands, and Harriet blew the whistle, signaling that she was going to start the timing. Much to her chagrin, Ruby followed. They sat together. Weiss thanked the heavens for getting a place in the shade that gave her a good view of the starting line, from which she managed to take several photos. Pyrrha had not returned, as she was helping Mercury to finish calibrating the prostheses, so, to her despair, Weiss was left alone with the girl.

"Ahhhh, do you know her, Weiss? Penélope is one of the best runners in the national Juvenile! Her victory at 300m from last year's Vytal festival is LEGENDARY! I've watched it, like, 20 times! Ah! AH! There goes Amber! I always thought she was better in the 400 races because her resistance is much more - UHUUUUUUL MERCURY! Isn't he AMAZING? I-".

"Can you be quiet?" Weiss finally burst. It had been a long day, she was tired, and Ruby had exhausted what was left of her patience. "I know that all this seems to be very interesting for a brat who doesn't know anything about sports, but I'm here for work".

Ruby opened her mouth. And then she closed it again. Weiss waited for some petulant comment, but all the girl said was:

"Sorry, princess".

Weiss wanted to answer but came to the conclusion that it would only make her talk more, and it wasn't worth the headache. Then, they watched the rest of the races in an annoying silence.

"Ruby!" Harriet called, waving an arm over her head. "Over here!".

The girl in question removed the handles from the tray and placed them on the bench, leaving towards the captain of the team in a single moment. Weiss was even a little impressed, but then Pyrrha approached, and she left those thoughts for later:

"So? Did you get good photos?".

"A few" she hadn't even stopped to think about it, distracted as she was. "It should be enough".

She was already getting ready to leave when Pyrrha told her:

"I think you'll want to watch that last one".

".... What last? All the team members already—".

And then she looked ahead, and Ruby Rose was in position at the starting line, and without the red sweatshirt, Weiss could now see that she had an track team shirt beneath, undoubtedly a gift from Coco, with  _ ROSE  _ embroidered on the back, and, just below, a paper taped with adhesive tape that said:  ** IN TRAINING. **

"What?".

"Ruby is new to the school," Pyrrha explained. "Ozpin and Goodwitch went personally to Signal, asking for her advance transfer, from what I heard. It seems that she broke the 300-meter national record in her last competition at school. Yang said that she really wants to participate in the festival, so she begged Harriet to let her try" Ruby was looking forward now, completely focused. "Generally, newbies don't compete for the qualifiers, but Harriet made an exception. She has a week to beat the score of an effective member of the team, and if she can, she can run with them at the festival".

Weiss tried to keep up with the information, but it was too much, and then Harriet had blown the whistle, and Ruby had shot down the track, the sound of her sneakers coming off the floor just seconds later, like delayed video. Pyrrha distanced herself, following the race from the sides to get a better look.

Ruby was a spot on the racetrack, moving forward and forward, and by then she was halfway through and all Weiss could think of was that this was exactly the kind of picture Blake would like her to be taking.

She jumped from the bench, exasperated, trying to grab the camera in shaky hands at the same time, and the toe of her sneakers hit the tray Ruby had left there. Weiss felt the floor slip under her feet, and that little chill in her belly from falling into a dream, except for the fact that it was very real and she was about to sprain an ankle and Ruby Rose was no longer on the track—

Wait, what?

Weiss never reached the ground. Instead, she collided with something softer and the fall sent her forward, not down. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain, but all she could feel was a burning sensation on her knees where she had grated them.

Someone breathed under her. Or rather, tried to breathe.

Opening her eyes, Weiss came face to face with a sweaty, red face. From tiredness or shyness, she couldn't say. Strands of red and black hair mingled tossed aside, and two pairs of silver eyes stared at her, startled, amused, and—

Breathless.

She moved, but her knees sank into Ruby's sides, making her lose even more of the little air she had, and Weiss noticed, in a critical and shameful moment, that she was sitting on the girl's torso, and that Ruby had her hands holding her back, so Weiss hadn't been hurt in the fall.

_ CLICK _ .

....

Harriet hadn't remembered to turn off the flash on  _ her  _ cell phone.

"I bet Belladonna will thank me for that photo," she said, laughing loudly. On the other hand, he had a timer stopped. "Ruby ... that  _ would have been _ an 11-second lap ... if you hadn't stopped to save the princess there. Better luck next time, kid".

Ruby dropped her head, hitting it on the floor, and seemed to regret it almost immediately.

It was only when Pyrrha appeared beside her, offering a hand that Weiss remembered that she was still on top of the girl.

"Just  _ what  _ did you do?".

"…Excuse me?".

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?".

"Hey!" Ruby, finally free, propped herself up on her elbows "a  _ thank you _ would have sufficed".

" _ Thank you? _ Weiss laughed scornfully. "YEAH. Thank you for not breaking my spine by almost pushing me on the bleachers". 

"But I didn't!".

"Not for lack of trying!" Weiss was red now, and turned to the girl with a cruel look: "Next time, _ think _ before you throw yourself at someone!".

"Weiss, this is not fair" Pyrrha intervened.

"Pyrrha, she could have hurt herself!" she replied. "Could have hurt me! The fact that  _ only  _ my knees are bleeding is a miracle".

"Yes, it was impulsive, but Ruby was just trying to help".

"Nobody lives on good intentions," she pointed out. "One misstep and we both would have fallen head-first into that bleacher".

Pyrrha had a point, she knew, but she was angry, tired, and too hot-headed to argue. She started to leave when Ruby shouted:

"HEY!".

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?".

"Your stupid camera." She shook the object with one hand. "I was trying to save  _ this here _ , because you seemed to be taking great care of it. But I don't think it's that important, right?".

Ruby threw the camera, which Weiss, luckily, managed to catch. Then she got up, cleaned her uniform, and took the washcloth from her backpack, walking away. Weiss, in turn, took the camera and left.

_ Ruby Rose _ , she remembered,  _ what the hell did I get into? _

**Author's Note:**

> This is not gonna be a very long fic, so the slow burn might not be as slow as you hope. Until next chapter!


End file.
